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Lady Convoy

nytheatre.com review by Kelly McAllister
August 15, 2005

Lady Convoy has a very funny premise: take the plot of an old trucker song (that was also made into a Sam Peckinpah movie starring Kris Kristofferson), switch the gender of the hero and his sidekick, and play it straight. The result is an often funny show that, while still in need of some editing and tightening up, is certainly worth a viewing.I haven’t seen the film of Convoy, but it seemed as if much of the dialogue here was lifted verbatim from that screenplay. This is either smart editing or excellent writing on the part of playwright Ken Gallo [The script is entirely original - ed.]. The story follows the adventures of Rubber Duck (Kelly Rauch), a tough trucker with a heart of gold—a desperado who likes to stick it to the man with her own white-trash version of panache. Rubber Duck's sidekick is Love Machine, who, though played by a white woman, speaks with all the trappings of any number of blaxploitation film heroes; as hilariously portrayed by Lucy Smith, she comes off as a sort of cross between Shaft and Jimmy Walker. The two truckers get into trouble with the law, form a convoy of like-minded truckers—all women—and then head across the Southwest to a big showdown in Texas. The entire story, like so many FringeNYC shows these days, is played straight, but with camp being the guiding force. By playing such a cheesy story straight, the absurdity is made that much clearer. Director Robert Ross Parker does an excellent job of keeping the pace tight, and the staging is inspired—hula hoops for steering wheels, simple frames of plastic tubing for semi-trucks, etc.The cast seemed a little tentative at the performance I attended, but it was the opening day, and I am sure they will improve with each show. Both Rauch and Smith do outstanding work as the two main lady truckers. In multiple roles, both Sean Doran and Sam Schamberg are excellent—they both have a keen grasp of this type of humor, able to elicit laughs from the audience with ease. Rounding out the cast are Gene Gallerano as the pretty boy runaway who hooks up with Rubber Duck, Brad Thomason as the evil Sheriff Lyle McGee, and John D’Arcangelo as the Governor of Texas.